Gofman, a nuclear and physical chemist as well as a physician, has been called the "father of clinical lipidology." He discovered and described the major classes of plasma lipoproteins: intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL), low-density (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL), as well as VLD (very low density lipoprotein). He characterized LDL as carrier of "bad cholesterol" leading to atherosclerosis; however he did not find that higher levels of HDL have predictive value as "good cholesterol".  He drew attention to VLDL as risk factor, noting that diabetics are frequently marked by higher VLDL levels, and also noted the rise in atherogenic lipoproteins at much earlier age in men than women. This is a long review of research conducted by Gofman and his team from 1949 to 1955; it footnotes 31 previously published papers by Gofman and associates. With O. DeLalla, F. Glazier, M.K. Freeman, A.V. Nicholas, B. Strisower, and A. R. Tamplin. This paper was reprinted with an historical introduction by Richard J. Havel, in Journal of Clinical Lipidology I (2007) 104-141.